EDITORIAL: In a landmark judgment delivered on Wednesday a full bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, ruled that “if a prisoner, due to mental illness, is found to be unable to comprehend the rational and reasons behind his or her punishment, then carrying out the death sentence will not meet the ends of justice.” Disposing of three appeals of condemned prisoners – Kaneezan Bibi, Imdad Ali and Ghulam Abbas – who have served 30, 18 and 14 years, respectively, on the death row the court clarified that not every mental illness shall automatically qualify for an exception from death penalty. It will be applicable only in a case where a medical board comprising health professionals certifies after thorough examination and evaluation that the condemned prisoner no longer has the higher mental functions to appreciate the rational and reason behind the sentence awarded to him or her. Federal and provincial governments have been directed to make necessary amendments to the relevant laws as well as Prison Rules. Also, taking notice of the socio-cultural dimension of the issue, the bench directed the government to substitute the terms “unsoundness of mind” and “lunatic” in the PPC, CrPC and the Prison Rules with sensitized words, such as “mental disorder” or “mental illness”.
Recognition of mental illness as a mitigating factor against death penalty cannot be welcomed enough. For, as the court noted if a prisoner is unable to comprehend the reasons behind the punishment then there is no point in carrying out the sentence. One of the reasons is deterrence, which does not apply to people who do not understand the gravity or the consequences of their actions. Besides, empirical evidence suggests death sentence does not act as a deterrent. Hence, as many as 106 countries have abolished it. The purpose of the punishment is also retribution. It is not served either in the case of people suffering from mental illnesses as they are unaware of the moral or legal cost of their crimes. A further aggravating issue in this country is the use of coercive methods by the police to elicit confessions from poor and powerless people of crimes they never committed. Individuals with serious mental illnesses are much more likely to be forced or coerced into making false confessions. Once implicated, they have little chance of getting due process unless they belong to well-off families. In any event, mentally-ill persons should be in treatment facilities rather than on the death row.
In the present instance, the SC bench commuted the death penalty of Imdad Ali and Kaneezan Bibi into life imprisonment, directing the Punjab government to immediately shift them and Ghulam Abbas – till the disposal of his mercy petition – from prison to Punjab Institute of Mental Health for treatment and rehabilitation. It is now for the federal and provincial governments to ensure this civilized, humanizing precedent is strictly followed in all cases, and the requisite changes in the relevant law are made urgently.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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